


Hey, My Love

by sarahspoonhands



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-08-27 14:11:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16703941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahspoonhands/pseuds/sarahspoonhands
Summary: Adora and Catra have lived together in the Horde Orphanage their entire life. When Adora is adopted by Angella and moves to the nice side of Bright Moon, Catra is left on her own. As the rift between them grows bigger, they both begin to realize how much they really need each other.





	Hey, My Love

Early Saturday morning, Adora awoke to the feel of someone breathing on her face. It wasn’t an unusual sensation. Catra usually climbed into the bottom bunk with her if she was feeling sad, angry, or really any emotion that broke through her usual sarcastic exterior. When they were children, it had been easier to fit into the small bed, but now, they were pressed right up against each other with no room to move.

Adora looked over at her sleeping best friend. Catra was curled up against Adora, her mouth parted slightly. Last night, Adora had gone to sleep not knowing where Catra was. Sometimes Catra went out all night, but she always told Adora. Last night, however, she hadn’t told Adora where she was going and she wouldn’t answer her phone. She supposed she was still mad at her. 

Sighing, Adora shifted her gaze away from Catra. She had told her three days ago that she had gotten an adoption offer. Catra had just started at her like she had slugs coming out of her nose. 

“You’re not taking it,” Catra had said, shaking her head. “Right?”

Adora had kicked at the sidewalk, not meeting her friend’s eyes. “I don’t know. It’s a lot to consider.”

Then, Catra had suddenly turned, and ran in the opposite direction. The next time Adora saw her, at the Horde Orphanage for dinner that same night, she acted like Adora hadn’t said anything at all. Someone from the outside wouldn’t have been able to tell that something was off, but Adora could. She's known Catra her entire life and could always tell when something was wrong with her. 

A pounding knock on the door made her jump. She disentangled herself from Catra and walked over to the door. It wasn’t locked- this place didn’t have locks. 

Shadow Weaver stood imposingly in the doorway. Adora could tell she wasn’t too happy about her leaving, either. “They’re here,” she said curtly. “I hope you’re packed.”

“Almost,” Adora said. The woman who everyone at the orphanage called Shadow Weaver was the closest thing Adora thought she would ever have to a mother. There wasn’t anything particularly motherly about her, though. Sure, she had signed her permission slips in elementary school and driven her to soccer games, but Adora would never call her compassionate or even nice. She thought a mother should at least be nice. 

Assuming Shadow Weaver was done talking, she turned to go, but Shadow Weaver stopped her before she could go anywhere. 

“Don’t you ever think of showing your face here again.” Adora stopped in her tracks, but she didn’t turn around. “You betrayed your family. I hope that snooty rich family is worth it.” 

Adora could imagine the way the snarl crept across Shadow Weaver’s scarred face, the way her nearly yellow eyes shone with cruelty. She was so glad she was leaving. She walked back into her room and shut the door.

“Morning,” Catra said, yawning with her mouth open wide. Adora felt a pang in her chest. She just wanted a minute to really talk, but there was no time left. The decision was made and she was going. She walked over to their shared closet and got out a duffel bag, already packed with her clothes, and a battered cardboard box.

“You’re really leaving,” Catra said. It was more of a statement than a question. Adora didn’t want to make eye contact with her. 

“I’m sorry,” Adora said. She picked up a photo from the top of their dresser. They were around nine in the photo. Adora has a tooth missing and Catra’s arm is slung around her shoulders. They’re both laughing. 

“If you were really sorry, you would just stay.” There was a pleading tone in her voice. Adora put the picture down and looked at her. 

She was still in her clothes from last night: skinny jeans and a red and black flannel. Her thick brown hair was even more crazy than usual. Her eyes- one green, one blue- bore into Adora, despite the tiredness behind them. 

“Come on, Catra,” Adora said. “I can’t stay here anymore, and this will be good for both of us. After we graduate, we’ll be set for life.”

“You’re leaving me with her,” Catra said, her voice trembling. “You’re running away and you’re leaving me with her.”

“Shadow Weaver isn’t that bad anymore-”

“Only because she likes you,” Catra said. “She hates me.”

“It’s only a year and a half,” Adora said. She walked over and sat on the bed next to her. “After that, we can do whatever we want. This can help us. We can live good lives when we leave.”

“Whatever.” She got up and took the picture off the dresser. “I get that you don’t care about me anymore, just please stop trying to act like you’re doing this to help me.”

“Catra-” Adora stood up as her friend stormed out of their room and slammed the door behind her. She stood there for a moment, her hand stretched toward the door. Then, she shook her head. Catra would come around. It would just take some time. 

As she finished packing the last of her things, she found herself leaving many of the objects that represented her life with Catra. She thought her friend would need their soothing energy more than she would. The one exception was a photo strip of the two of them from a mall photo booth. 

When she emerged into the hall again, Catra was nowhere to be seen. Adora sighed and picked her way down the stairs with all of her earthly possessions, careful not to trip. 

“Adora?” She peeked her head around from behind the box to see a girl with short pink and purple hair looking at her.

“That’s me,” she said. The girl looked about her age with tan skin and purple eyes. She recognized her from school and supposed that she was Angella’s daughter. 

“Hi, oh my gosh, it’s so good to meet you,” the girl said. She took the box from Adora. “I’m Glimmer. We’re going to be sisters!”

Adora laughed and rubbed at the back of her neck. “I guess we are.”

Glimmer was one of the girls and that she and Catra called “The Princesses”. They were a group of rich girls at their school who always acted too happy-go-lucky. Though, Glimmer didn’t seem too horrible up close. 

“My mom’s just finishing the paperwork, but after that we’re ready to go!” Adora was going to reply, but then the door behind Glimmer opened. 

Adora had met Angella twice: once about a month ago for an adoption interview and last week when she made her the offer. She was a tall woman with pale skin and hair slightly lighter pink than her daughter. She had an imposing but caring air around her and Adora instantly wanted her to like her. 

“Are we ready to go, girls?” She asked. Adora nodded and Angella smiled at her. “Good.” She didn’t look at Shadow Weaver as she walked out of the orphanage, instead kept staring straight ahead. 

The Fright Zone was quiet this early on a Saturday morning. As the “bad” part of town, the real excitement there happened at night. In the day it looked almost harmless, but a little dirty. Angella’s white luxury car stood stark against its surroundings. 

Glimmer opened the trunk and put in the box. Adora did the same with her duffle bag. She looked around at the street where she had lived her entire life one last time before getting into the car.

Catra was sitting on the fire escape on the side of the building. Adora gave her a wave, but she looked away. She felt a lump beginning to form in her throat, but she got into the car and closed the door. 

…

Catra sat on the fire escape and watched as the shiny, white car took Adora away. The cold November wind bit at her cheeks as she tried her best to hold back the tears that welled in her eyes. This was such bullshit. 

Ever since she could remember, she and Adora had always been able to count on each other. She would have been happy doing that for the rest of her life. How could these rich people be more important to Adora than she was?

She stayed out there until the sun was almost at the highest point in the sky. Below her, the residents of the Fright Zone went about their day like it was any other Saturday. 

Back in her room, she went straight for Adora’s bunk. She hadn’t taken her standard issue orphanage sheets with her and they still smelled of the lavender shampoo that Adora often spent her small allowance on. Catra squeezed her eyes shut tight. 

It didn’t feel real yet that she was gone. Maybe if Catra hadn’t avoided the conversation all week she would be taking it better now. She would have at least known that today was the day. But, no. Like always, she had avoided the thing that would cause her pain and it resulted in even more pain than it would have in the first place. She fell asleep like that: wrapped up in Adora’s sheets with wet cheeks. 

When she awoke hours later, Shadow Weaver was standing over her with a sneer across her face. Catra sat up so fast she slammed her head into the top bunk. 

“Shit,” she said, dropping her head into her hands. 

“When you’re finished,” Shadow Weaver sneered. “There’s dinner to be made. Or are you too busy being a degenerate waste of space?”

“I’m coming,” Catra said in a small voice. When Shadow Weaver closed the door, she fell back against the bed. A betrayal, a concussion, and kitchen duty. Today was officially the worst, Catra thought.

**Author's Note:**

> So, catradora has taken over my life? Let me know what you think about this fic! I will try to update at least once a week. Thank you to my lovely beta, Tivoli. Kudos are appreciated, as always!


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